UFC 123 recap: Rampage wins decision, BJ Penn KO’s Hughes quickly

by foam cage

After 15 minutes of light heavyweight action, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and Lyoto Machida are already anticipating a rematch. Jackson won a split decision over Machida in the main event at UFC 123. Machida clearly won the third round, but Rampage was aggressive enough to take the first two rounds. When the decision was announced, Jackson seemed surprised and even offered Machida a rematch. See below for what Canadian fans had to say about UFC 123.

In the co-main event, it took just 21 seconds for BJ Penn to knock out Matt Hughes in their rubber match. Most fans and pundits expected this fight to go the distance, but that wasn’t the case as Penn came out as a man possessed. Penn landed a right cross that dropped Hughes and he finished him with a barrage of punches. Penn won the “KO of the Night” award.

Also on the main card, George Sotiropoulos submitted Joe Lauzon in the second round of their lightweight bout, shooting him up the lightweight rankings. After an electric first round the Australian took advantage of a tired Lauzon, gained top position, and locked in a kimura. Top light heavyweight prospect, Phil Davis remained unbeaten in his MMA career with a “Submission of the Night” win over Tim Boetsch. Plus, Maiquel Flacao won an embarrassingly dull decision over Gerald Harris in a fight that saw not one strike landed in the third round.

In preliminary action, Brian Foster submitted Matt Brown in a back-and-forth matchup. In the second round, Foster locked in a guillotine choke and Brown tapped. Mark Munoz defeated his friend Aaron Simpson. After Simpson came out strongly and won the first round, Munoz battled back and won the last two rounds in a close, exciting decision. Veteran Dennis Hallman TKO’d Karo Parisyan in the first round in what will likely be Parisyan’s last fight in the UFC. For complete results visit ufc.com.

Canadian fans, after UFC 123, were active on Facebook and Twitter voicing their opinions on the night’s action. Here is what some of them had to say:

Jack from Timmons, Ontario said of BJ Penn, “Wow that is the ‘Prodigy’ I know and love. He always gets so much more motivated and psyched after he suffers a loss. I would like to see him back at lightweight and make another run at the 155lb title.”

Andrew from Edmonton, Alberta disagreed with the decision in the main event: “I believe Rampage won the first round, but I think Machida won the last two rounds and deserves an immediate rematch.”

Marge from Vancouver, B.C. believes George Sotiropoulos, with his win, deserves a title shot. “That Australian is one bad dude. He is now 7-0 in the UFC and has looked unstoppable. I think he deserves a title shot.”

(Dana White, at the post-fight press conference, said that Sotiropoulos will fight Dennis Siver at UFC 127 in Australia.)